(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to automated work systems and, more particularly, to an automated work system for examining patent grant and patent application claims.
(2) Description of the Prior Art
The number of patent applications is increasing yearly. From 1963 through 1983, approximately 100,000 patent applications per year were filed at the United States Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO), whereas in 2001 alone, 326,508 patent applications were filed. Technology innovation, which needs patent protection to attract capital for development and commercialization, is driving this trend. Interestingly, technology is also facilitating the trend—word processing, remote electronic database searching, and similar technologies are facilitating the patent application process, both for high-technology and low-technology inventions. This large increase in patent applications, and patents in general, means that the ability to understand and communicate one's patent property and competitive position with respect to a large field of other patent property is a difficult task, and is only becoming more difficult with time.
In addition to the growth in patent applications, the number of claims filed with each application is increasing. Patent applications with several hundred claims are now routine. Some patent applications with claims in the 1000's also exist. A patent with 7976 claims is the inventors' current identified maximum. This trend is at least in part due to the patent legal precedent now governing claims interpretation deriving from the case of Festo Corporation v. Shoketsu Kinzoku Kogyo Kabushiki Co. Ltd. In this case, the courts interpreted that narrowing amendments to claims elements made to overcome the patent examiner's objections during prosecution of a patent application can significantly limit patent claims scope by eliminating the doctrine of equivalents and invoking prosecution history estoppel for the amended claims element.
Thus, a need exists for an automated method and system to reduce the amount of information users need to review in order to make a judgment relating to the claims of a patent or patent application.